Lots of weblogs have a site meter that collects stats and tells their owners way more than you'd expect about who's been visiting, when, and from where - e.g. here (look at all the stuff you can see by clicking on links to the left).

It's all a little too much Total Information Awareness for me, but I would like to know if this is at all worth doing so will be putting up just a plain old hit counter one of these days.

in the interest(s) of full disclosure:
Rebecca Blood is author of The Weblog Handbook, which includes sections on ten tips for a better weblog and on weblog ethics.
I do not measure up on the weblog ethics. Thou shalt not edit thy post after making it (if at all possible), she says, and at the very least thou shalt mark the changed spots. Whereas I improve wording, attempt to remove libel and irritants, have second thoughts, edit copiously after the fact.

I also do have opinions on local politics.

Just a reminder, "belaboring the obvious" has two meanings. Either it seems obvious to me but i'm not so sure it's obvious to you, or it feels fresh and marvelously new to me but is eye-rollingly clear to everyone else. The latter is typically more applicable.